Greater Clark County Schools is moving forward with its intent to establish a bus compound along a heavily traveled Jeffersonville thoroughfare, despite Mayor Mike Moore calling the plans the "death of 10th Street."

School Board members approved on Tuesday night the $3.2 million purchase of the two plots of land – currently occupied by Clark County Auto Auction – pending proper zoning changes and an environmental inspection. But Moore, who says the presence of a bus compound would interfere with the city’s efforts to revitalize a “blighted” 10th Street corridor, said the project is far from a done deal.

“I’m sure there’s going to be some very testy public meetings still in this regard,” Moore said Wednesday. “The city attorney assures me that it’s still under the control of the city whether this happens or not.”

Greater Clark County Schools Superintendent Andrew Melin said the district intends to turn the properties into something beneficial for both the district and the larger community. Early plans call for wrought-iron fences and tall landscaping so buses are hidden from the street.

"We are going to do our due diligence on that property to make sure that it’s maybe some of the most attractive property along that stretch of 10th Street," he said. "That would be our goal, and we’re willing to spend the dollars to do it right.”

Greater Clark sought out the 10th Street properties for their central location and existing structures, Melin said, which will cut down on construction costs. There's already a recently renovated building at 1611 East 10th St., where the district wants to establish a permanent home for the district's Auxiliary Services and Maintenance Department, Melin said. The department, which has moved from place to place over the years, is currently located on part of River Valley Middle School's campus.

The site at 1620 East 10th St. is slated to become the new headquarters for the district's 90-or-so corporation-owned buses and transportation staff. Although no students would directly utilize the new facilities, the two sites would become an improved workplace for about 145 district employees, Melin said.

Moore said the city has been working to widen and beautify 10th Street for about four years in a project he expects will cost the city $18 million but attract new businesses once the work is finished in late-2017 or early-2018. Widening 10th Street is supposed to ease traffic flow, he said, and a bus compound would create a "traffic nightmare" and safety hazard.

“Everything we’re trying to do is headed in a positive direction, to make it easier for people in Jeff to get around," Moore said. "The idea of what the school corporation wants to do would totally disrupt that. It would be the death of 10th Street.”

Melin said most buses run up and down 10th Street already, and that buses would be leaving the proposed compound outside of rush hour. Buses typically leave the compound between 6 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., he said, and are typically back from afternoon routes before 5 p.m.

The properties will be paid for with general obligation bonds of less than $2 million each. Minor renovations of the existing structures will be necessary, as will beautification efforts at the front of the property, but "most of that would be built into those bond issues," Melin said. At some point, additional facilities might be necessary, he said.

In the meantime, Melin said the district will "make sure we're doing everything in our power to help the city put its best foot forward and have a great-looking 10th Street."

"We're prepared to do whatever it takes to make sure that it's a highly professional, first-class operation," he said.

Jeffersonville Planning and Zoning Director Nathan Pruitt — who said he feels that Greater Clark's plan is incongruous with the city's plan for entertainment, restaurant, retail and office use along that part of 10th Street — said even though the purchase of the land has been cleared by the school board, much is up in the air at this point.

Before Greater Clark can assume use of the property, several agencies would have to sign off on the plan. The land will have to be rezoned for use as a bus compound, which would first require the Plan Commission to make a recommendation to the city council before the city council puts it to a vote.

The Plan Commission will meet to and hear public comment about the proposed bus compound at 6 p.m. March 22 at City Hall, 500 Quartermaster Court in Jeffersonville, followed immediately by a Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting.

The earliest city council meeting at which rezoning of the 10th Street plots could be voted on is April 4.